Any student studying a University of Plymouth course, regardless of year, fee status, or mode of study, is a member of the students’ union and has a vote in the elections. Therefore you, as a student, are a voter!

Elections run every year for you to decide who represents you and your needs as a student at various levels within the university, locally, and nationally. Student Elections decide which of your fellow students will take up these positions for one year.

Only the student body of the university can decide who is trusted with each position. The winners of the election will represent you and lobby for change on your behalf; by voting, you hold the most power in deciding who works with the union and university to make changes which affect your academic, extracurricular, and community lie in Plymouth.

If you are unhappy with the elections process, you can also spoil your ballot at the point of voting or vote to Re-Open Nominations. Both options are more powerful than choosing to not vote

Vote for the candidate who you feel would best listen to you and represent your interests to the union and the university. Try to avoid voting for someone just because they are your friend; your vote is strictly your decision, and you do not have to reveal who you voted for.

Candidates will begin campaigning at the start of the voting week; you can keep an eye out for posters, on social media, and on the union’s website for their manifestos. Their manifestos explain who they are, why they are appropriate for the role, and what changes they will seek to make if they are elected. Be as critical as possible when reading a manifesto; are the candidate’s pledges achievable within a year? Will you be able to tell if they are making any progress, or are they making generic, open-ended statements?

You can vote for RON - Re-Open Nominations. If RON is the most popular “candidate” for a position, nobody is elected into that role and the SU will open nominations again.

You have one vote per position up for election; click here to see which positions are open for election. However, the union uses the Alternative Vote (AV) system. Unlike “traditional” voting, AV offers wider choice and means you can maximise the outcome of your vote.

To give an example of how AV works, imagine your mate is nipping to Greggs for lunch, and offers to bring you back something. You reply that a steak bake would be ideal, but if they’re sold out, a sausage roll. If those are sold out too, you’ll have anything. What you’ve told your mate is that a steak bake is your first choice, or your first preference. Failing that, your second choice/preference is a sausage roll, and after that you haven’t got a preference. AV works in a very similar way:

• When voting opens, you will have the option to pick your first choice candidate (your steak bake) for each position. This is usually the first, and only, voting stage in “traditional” voting
• After picking your first choice candidates, you can also choose to allocate your second choice to another candidate (your sausage roll). This would be the person you would like to see in the role, should your first choice be unsuccessful
• You can choose to continue allocating preferences to as many or as few candidates as you like, including a choice to “RON”. Not allocating additional preferences does not automatically make your first choice less likely to win; it simply ensures that you still have a say in who represents you should your first choice receive the fewest votes
• When voting closes, first choice allocations are totalled. If a candidate does not already hold over 50% of the total number of first choice votes, the candidate with the fewest first choice votes is eliminated. This is where your voice can still count!
• The eliminated candidate’s votes are then transferred to the second round of counting. If your first choice is eliminated by this stage, your vote is then transferred to your second choice
• The process continues, until a winner for that position is confirmed

Some areas of campus are popular campaigning zones, such the SU and outside the library. However, certain areas of campus, including the Library and open access study spaces are strictly off-limits for candidates to campaign in. You have the right to not be disturbed by campaigners in these areas.

You have the right to be treated with respect by candidates, even if you are not voting for them. You have the right to vote freely and without coercion. Candidates are not allowed to influence you at the point of casting your vote, nor are they allowed to ask who you voted for. Candidates will be briefed on regulations prior to campaigning.

Yes. If you are unhappy with a candidate’s conduct, you can email: studentvoice@su.plymouth.ac.uk

Once voting opens online; head over to upsu.com/elections, enter your login details, and cast your vote! You can do this on any device. Contact us at studentvoice@su.plymouth.ac.uk for help or more information about our student roles!

Any current registered University of Plymouth student can run in the elections, if you are on a UoP course and have not suspended or interrupted your studies at the time of the election you can go for it! Current Sabbatical Officers can re-run if they have only done one year, they are restricted to two years then must leave.

All you need to do to submit your nomination to start with is click the ‘Nominate Yourself’ button above and let us know your name and the position you want to stand for.

After this, you will receive information from the Student Voice team about what you need to submit to complete your nomination, the deadline for this will come later but before the voting period. Previously, candidates have been asked to submit a list of their ideas to improve the student experience.

Once the nominations period has closed, all candidates who have submitted nominations will be invited to attend training to help you prepare for Voting Week with advice on speaking to students, encouraging them to vote for you and details on the rules for running in the Elections.

The salary for each role is £23,040 per annum

As these are full-time, salaried roles you can only run for one position because if you were to be elected to multiple roles you would not be able to fulfil all commitments.

If you are undecided which role to nominate yourself for, we suggest that you speak to staff that work with the Sabbatical Officers, or the Sabbatical Officers themselves to find out more.

You can contact the Student Voice team on studentvoice@su.plymouth.ac.uk

All you need is enthusiasm and a motivation to represent students. Full training and support will be given. We want to encourage any student from any background to get involved!

No, being a Sabbatical Officer is a full-time role which cannot be undertaken alongside your studies.

However, we do also have some part-time, paid opportunities for representation. Our School Rep role is part time, and gives you the opportunity to represent the students in your school to the university. Find out more here.

Our team of part-time Student Representatives play a vital role in making sure that the voices of students at the University of Plymouth are heard. This year the procedure of becoming a School Rep has changed and will now be appointed as opposed to elected. This means that you are able to submit an application for the role and the best candidate will be selected by a panel instead of by ballot. School Rep roles are paid (you will receive a termly stipend). Keep an eye out on our website and on social media channels for more information about applying to become a School Rep once the Elections period has finished. You could also put yourself forward to become a Course Rep, where your Programme will either have an election, or you can nominate yourself. This is decided by University staff and usually takes place at the start of the academic year.

Sabbatical Officers who are elected in March 2024 will start their role on the 24th July 2024 and their contract runs until the 1st July the following year. This gives you the time and space to finish your course or year of study before starting your new role.

When you start your role, you will spend the first three weeks receiving training as well as undertaking a handover period with the current Sabbatical Officer and UPSU staff team who can help you to settle in and get to understand the role and your responsibilities in greater detail.

Please speak to the student voice team if your course continues after the 15th June.

We want to ensure that there are no barriers for any student in participating in the Elections. If you are concerned about any element of the Elections process, please get in touch with the student voice team who will be able to talk through any additional requirements or reasonable adjustments to ensure that you’re able to participate fully.

The Sabbatical Officer role is a full-time, paid role and it is not possible to do alongside studies. Many students do run in the year they are graduating but many have taken a year out between stages of their course. If you plan on doing this we recommend speaking to your tutor or programme lead to ensure that there are no significant changes to your course planned in the future that might affect your ability to return.

Many international students on a tier 4 visa have been Sabbatical Officers, including our current President. The SU and International Students Advice service studentservices@plymouth.ac.uk can support you with this process should you be elected.

This depends. If you are a postgraduate student completing or writing up in the summer, you can! We would want you to have completed your studies by September at the very latest. If you are a postgraduate student who is studying January to January, you will not be able to take the role.

Sabbatical Officers are based in the Students’ Union building on the main Plymouth campus. Officers will be required to attend meetings on campus and generally make themselves available to students, both in person and digitally.

Most University meetings are within the typical core office hours of 9-5 but Officers are expected to be flexible around student meetings which may continue into the evening. For example, Forums are usually 6 - 8pm on a weekday evening. However, these dates are set in advance so you would have notice of them.

It is up to you if you tell people but the list of candidates and the number of nominations will remain confidential until nominations have closed.

A campaign is where you can share your ideas and convince others to vote for you in the upcoming election. How you do this is up to you! There are rules as to what you can and cannot do as part of your campaign, including your spending. If you are unsure of any of the rules, please contact the Student Voice team at: studentvoice@su.plymouth.ac.uk

Sabbatical Officers must rerun for each term in office (which lasts one year). If you win an election, you have only been elected for one year. The maximum number of terms for a Sabbatical Officer is two, however, these years do not need to be run consecutively.

• Leads the Sabbatical Officers Team
• Responsible for democracy at UPSU.
• Leads on representation and campaigns at a national level
• The first point of contact for external relationships such as the press and the wider communit
• Chairs the Trustee Board

• Works to improve the academic experience of students, working on issues such as teaching and learning, academic support, faculty representation
• Leading on the development and support of the academic representation system

• Represents all students and leads on campaigns relating to health & wellbeing, equality & diversity, and wider support for students
• Supports and represents the interests of liberation groups to improve their student experience. These groups include BAME, LGBT+, Women and Disabled students
• Works closely with the SU Advice Centre to promote services to students

• Works to improve everything related to societies, sports clubs, volunteering, social sport initiatives and fundraising
• Chair the Sports Club and the Societies Forum
• Encourage students to engage with UPSU student groups and initiatives
• Support the development of community partnerships

You can speak to the current Sabbatical Officer team to find out more about the role! You can get in touch through their emails, or you can often find them in The Hive in the SU, where they are based.

You can also get in touch with the Student Voice team, who support the Sabbatical Officers and the running of the election, including nominations and campaigns training. Their email address is studentvoice@su.plymouth.ac.uk.